The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Set To Begin Spring Slate
1/12/2012 | Rifle
Jan. 12, 2012
OXFORD, Miss. - After concluding a successful fall season, the Ole Miss rifle team begins its spring season this weekend with a pair of home matches at the Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center. Saturday the Rebels will face The Citadel at 8 a.m. while Sunday Ole Miss will take on against NC State at 9 a.m.
Ole Miss' last match was over two months ago, when the Rebels dropped a tight contest to No. 3 West Virginia 4671-4646 on Nov. 12.
Despite the long layoff in between matches, Ole Miss rifle coach Valerie Boothe believes her team is prepared for the task ahead this weekend.
"We've been training really hard for the past two weeks," Boothe said. "We've had some training matches in practice that were a bit scary, but I have faith that we're going to post a good number this weekend."
Last season the Rebels defeated NC State in Oxford with a then school-record team aggregate score of 4625.
"We never want to underestimate them," Boothe said of the Wolfpack. "NC State is a good, quality program who has been moving up. They've got some great coaches so we don't want to underestimate them. It's not about winning or losing for us. It's about trying to get that (NCAA) qualifying number and if we win in the process, that's great."
Ole Miss enters the weekend ranked No. 6 in the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association Poll, while NC State stands at No. 20 and The Citadel is unranked.
All Ole Miss home matches take place at the Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center located on Sisk Ave. off Hwy. 7 and are open to the public.
